Atlanta
Journal-ConstitutionRedistricting Plan Still Has
HurdlesBy David Pendered September 30, 2001

The state Democratic Party got what it
wanted in congressional redistricting --- a plan designed to return
control of Georgia's delegation to Democrats.

This map, approved by the Legislature
late Friday after weeks of wrangling, is fueling Democratic expectations
of winning seven of 13 seats in next year's election. Since 1994, the GOP
has been the majority in the 11-member delegation, which will grow by two
districts because of Georgia's population boom in the past decade.

The plan would cede three regions to
Republicans: the South Georgia coastal area, North Georgia to the tip of
Atlanta and a 15-county area northwest of Macon. The rest of the state is
expected to favor Democrats for Congress.

Significant hurdles to the plan remain
far beyond its review by Gov. Roy Barnes, who has given every indication
he will sign it into law.

First, the federal government must
approve the plan after checking for compliance with the Voting Rights Act,
ensuring that minority voters were not illegally manipulated to benefit
either party. That will be done either by a three-panel federal court in
Washington, D.C., or by the Justice Department.

In addition, Republicans also are
considering filing a federal lawsuit against the map. "This map is very
vulnerable to legal challenge," said state GOP Chairman Ralph Reed, who
was at the Capitol when the Legislature approved the plan.

But in a historic first, the largely
black metro Atlanta legislative delegation had a powerful hand in how the
metro districts were drawn. By threatening to withhold their vote from any
plan they did not help draw, they forced Senate leaders to adopt their
approach.

Midway in the negotiations, Senate
Majority Leader Charles Walker (D-Augusta) resigned as a conferee to make
way for Sen. Nadine Thomas (D-Ellenwood). Behind the scenes, Sen. David
Scott (D-Atlanta) was brought into Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor's office to work
with the cartographers in an effort to create a new district, the 13th,
cutting across the southern metro area while also protecting districts
designed for incumbent Democrats Reps. John Lewis and Cynthia McKinney.

"This was a very important step for
Atlanta to take," said Scott, who pressed for Atlanta representation. "The
population growth is in the metro area. Ten of the 13 districts touch
metro Atlanta. We made it clear that Atlanta must have a seat at the
table."

The political landscape of the new map
is taking shape.

U.S. Rep. Bob Barr said Saturday he will
challenge U.S. Rep. John Linder for a new Republican seat in Atlanta's
northern suburbs. Both Republicans now represent a portion of the new 7th
District.

A new northwest Georgia district taking
in some of Barr's current territory, the 11th, was drawn to favor election
of a Democrat. An early name suggested by some party leaders is Roger
Kahn, who lost a campaign last year to unseat Barr. Kahn brings some name
recognition and a personal fortune, which he used last year.

Two Republican incumbents appear to be
in the same Republican district down along the coast --- U.S. Reps. Saxby
Chambliss and Jack Kingston. Democrats expect the two to square off
against each other, with Chambliss winning because of his new role as
chairman of a congressional subcommittee on terrorism.

In a Middle Georgia district that House
Speaker Tom Murphy (D-Bremen) worked hard to create, two names have popped
up. One is the law partner of House Majority Leader Larry Walker
(D-Perry), Chuck Byrd. Byrd has not held public office, but his father,
Garland T. Byrd, was elected Georgia's lieutenant governor in 1958 and
served through 1962.

A second name that emerged late Friday
is former Macon Mayor Jim Marshall. Some Democrats tout him as a decorated
Vietnam War veteran with proven fund-raising ability.

In the new 13th District on metro
Atlanta's Southside, several high-profile Democrats have expressed
interest in running. Sen. Greg Hecht (D-Morrow) has already formed a
campaign committee. Sen. Donzella James (D-Atlanta) has formed an
exploratory committee. Thomas, who served on the conference committee,
said she is considering a run.

The name most mentioned is David Worley,
chairman of the state Democratic Party. Worley lost a campaign against
former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich in a fight over a south Atlanta
district a decade ago, but has proven his fund-raising abilities and
reportedly has some early support.

Still, Worley is white and the district
favors a black candidate. And if the Republican primary election is
competitive next year, Charles Bullock, a University of Georgia political
science professor, said minority voters could nominate one of their own.

Moments after the Georgia General
Assembly approved a new congressional map late Friday night, the
politicians most affected by the plan had already begun gauging its impact
and plotting their next moves.

For the state's eight Republican
congressmen, the map - crafted by majority Democrats to maximize their
party's influence - could mean deciding whether to face one of their GOP
colleagues for re-election, run in a new district or seek higher office.

The General Assembly voted largely along
party lines to adopt a new congressional map for Georgia. The legislature
redraws political districts every 10 years to account for population
changes that show up in the U.S. census.

The vote capped a testy mapping session
that dragged on for more than a month and came on the heels of a separate
session, begun Aug. 1, to redraw state House and Senate districts.

The House supported the plan 99-59,
getting just eight more votes than the bare minimum the majority Democrats
needed to pass it. More than two hours later, the Senate followed suit,
30-23, with just a single vote to spare.

The map must now be approved by the U.S.
Justice Department, which will ensure it doesn't illegally dilute minority
voting strength, and withstand an expected lawsuit by Republicans, who say
Democrats illegally carved up the state at the expense of communities of
interest.

''Georgians will not be used as
political pawns by arrogant politicians,'' said Senate Republican Leader
Eric Johnson of Savannah, who called the map ''political apartheid,''
dividing whites and blacks to predetermine political performance.

But Democrats argue that it's unfair to
send eight Republicans and three Democrats to Washington from a state that
has never elected a Republican governor, has two Democratic senators and
is usually considered a battleground state in presidential elections.

They say the new map, which adds two new
seats because of Georgia's population growth, would more accurately
represent the views of the state's voters.

According to some analyses, the new map
would create six Democratic-leaning seats, six Republican seats and one
toss-up.

''It just depends on who runs and who
works the hardest,'' said state Sen. Tim Golden, D-Valdosta, chairman of
the Senate's redistricting committee. ''It's a very fair map.''

Among the 13 proposed districts, the
majority of voters in four districts voted for Democrat Al Gore for
president in 2000, and he received more than 47 percent of the votes in
three others.

Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes received the
majority of votes in eight of the proposed districts.

Kingston and Chambliss face perhaps the
toughest task among incumbent Republican congressmen under the map.

The new 1st district includes half of
Kingston's home county of Chatham and all the coastal counties he
currently represents. But it also takes in much of the middle south
Georgia district Chambliss speaks for, including the military bases he
represents as a member of the House Armed Services Committee.

A spokesman said Chambliss, like
Kingston, is considering challenging Gov. Roy Barnes or U.S. Sen. Max
Cleland, both Democrats, instead of facing a GOP colleague for
re-election.

''He's going to do what's in the best
interests of the people of Georgia ... and do it on their terms and his
terms, not the terms of the Democrat Party,'' Rob Leebern, Chambliss'
chief of staff, said late Friday. ''We'll see how it turns out.''

Kingston, who was on his way to Tattnall
County -- which is currently in his district but would not be under the
new map -- on Saturday, said the two representatives would before making
their decisions.

''The only message we got to each other
is that we'll sit down and look at our options and probably make a
coordinated move,'' Kingston said. ''We both feel like we've got friends
in southeast and middle Georgia and we've both got money in the bank.''

Kingston said the real losers under the
new map will be his constituents in Savannah, west Chatham and other
counties who have known him for eight years and now likely will be
represented by someone from Augusta or Athens in the new 12th district.

''To tell a 68-year-old widow from
downtown Savannah she's going to have to call Augusta to get her Social
Security straightened out -- I'm not going to do that,'' Kingston said.
''It's going to be one of those things where I'm going to do everything I
can for Chatham County, but there are going to be limits.''

Rep. John Linder, a Republican who
currently represents the Athens area, had similar comments about a plan
that pulls Athens into the 12th.

''Athens is the economic driver of
northeast Georgia,'' Linder said. ''It deserves to be the center of a
district.

''It is a travesty for northeast
Georgia, and the Democrats don't care.''

Local districts

The following is a look at the area's
U.S. House of Representatives districts under a map approved by the
Georgia General Assembly late Friday night.

District 9: Where is it?: Covering most
of northeast Georgia, the new 9th District runs south along the South
Carolina border down to Columbia County and includes Jackson, Barrow,
Banks, Oconee and other counties surrounding Athens.

Current representative: Republicans
Charlie Norwood and John Linder represent parts of the new district.

What happened: The new map moves rural
northeast Georgia out of Mr. Linder's old suburban Atlanta district. With
Athens out of the district, it becomes even more Republican and would be
expected to elect Mr. Norwood.

District 12: Where is it? Based in
Augusta, this narrow district runs north to take in Athens and Clarke
County and south to take in west Chatham County and most of downtown and
midtown Savannah. Bulloch, Effingham, Screven, Jenkins and Burke counties
would be included, as would the north half of Bryan County.

Current representative: New district

What happened: The Democrat-controlled
legislature crafted this new district to elect a Democrat. Urban centers
in Savannah and Augusta were joined with the majority Democrats in the
university town of Athens.

When state Sen. Nadine Thomas
(D-Ellenwood) stormed angrily away from the table in the wee hours of
Friday morning, the weekslong effort by House and Senate conferees to draw
a new Georgia congressional map seemed doomed to failure.

By mid-afternoon Friday, the conferees
had shaken hands on a deal that seemed to please nearly all the Democrats
(and even some of the Republicans, although none of them voted for it).

How did this deal --- which the
Democrats desperately needed to head off a major embarrassment --- get
made?

Desperation was a key motivating factor,
according to those who took part in the final negotiations.

A tumultuous meeting of the Black Caucus
was a critical turning point. And the last part of the deal to fall in
place involved a few DeKalb County precincts which have been a sticking
point since the beginning of the special redistricting session.

Part of what led to the post-midnight
blowup was Thomas' displeasure with the new 13th District skirting the
south metro suburbs.

When they got back together early Friday
morning, said House Reapportionment Committee Chairman Tommy Smith
(D-Alma), the conferees agreed to put their differences over geography
aside and approach the map in terms of the numbers --- Democratic
performance in recent elections and black voting age population.

With rank-and-file Democrats growing
increasingly nervous about the political fallout from this session, the
conferees were aware their backs were against the wall.

"We all knew the plan we brought up
[Friday] was our last shot, and that helped bring everybody together,"
Smith said.

The session almost collapsed the
previous Friday, when Gov. Roy Barnes balked at a plan that would have
split Cobb County among four congressional districts. Since midweek, House
conferee Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) had been on the phone with civic
leaders in Columbus selling a compromise which offered the best hope of
completing the complicated jigsaw puzzle of Democratic interests south and
west of Atlanta.

Barnes would accept a three-way split in
Cobb, and Columbus-Muscogee County would be divided three ways in order to
push up the Democratic numbers in the West Georgia district which House
Speaker Tom Murphy insisted on.

Late Friday morning, Smyre was called
from the speaker's office to a meeting of the Black Caucus.

"Up to that point, there had not been
much discussion between African-Americans in the House and the Senate,"
Smyre said.

Senate conferee Paul Brown, a key figure
in the final round of deal-making, went over a compromise plan with the
caucus. Smyre warned that black Democrats would be blamed if the
Legislature got this close to a compromise and didn't come up with a map.

None of the state's three
African-American members of Congress were at this meeting, but their
agreement was crucial to the final deal.

The Democratic numbers for U.S. Rep.
Sanford Bishop's southwest Georgia district were better than in some
previous maps, and he agreed to the Muscogee split. U.S. Rep. John Lewis
made several concessions, reflected in a more irregularly shaped 5th
District than the current one.

All that remained --- as Murphy urged
the increasingly impatient House members to stick around for the final
vote --- were a few precincts north of Emory University, which state Rep.
Doug Teper had been working since the session started to get moved out of
U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney's 4th District.

With Brown, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, and
her father, state Rep. Billy McKinney, on the phone, Cynthia McKinney at
last agreed to let the precincts be moved into Lewis' district.

The conferees met not long afterward to
seal the agreement with a handshake.

There remained a little last-minute
juggling of district numbers --- the 3rd swapped with the 8th, and the 7th
with the 11th --- and a few Augusta precincts were moved to place the
residence of Charles Walker Jr., son of the Senate majority leader and a
likely congressional candidate, into the 12th District.

But with the handshake, the deal was
done.

New
York TimesIn Georgia, Democrats Favor Their Own in
Redistricting By Kevin SackSeptember 30, 2001

After a lengthy and contentious session
of Democratic infighting, Georgia legislators approved a Congressional
redistricting plan Friday night that was designed to reverse the
Republican majority in the state's House delegation.

Georgia has 11 Congressional seats, and
Republicans hold eight of them, with the other three held by Democrats.
The state is one of four to pick up two seats as a result of the 2000
reapportionment, and the plan approved Friday would put majorities of
Democratic voters in seven of the 13 districts. Before the 1990
redistricting, Democrats held all but one of Georgia's seats, that of Newt
Gingrich, and they have been eager for 10 years to reclaim control.

Under the new map, both of the new
seats, one of them encompassing a large swath of suburban Atlanta and the
other stretching from Augusta to Savannah, were designed with majorities
of Democratic voters. In addition, two sets of incumbent Republicans could
be forced to challenge each other, with Bob Barr facing John Linder and
Saxby Chambliss facing Jack Kingston.

Republicans have vowed to challenge the
plan in federal court, possibly on the grounds that it would dilute
minority voting strength, which would violate the Voting Rights Act.

Though both houses of the General
Assembly are controlled by Democrats, the lawmakers had labored in fits
and starts since Aug. 22 to devise the new map.

While there was never much question that
the new districts would be drawn to favor Democrats, there were feuds over
whether certain districts would be drawn to assist specific prospective
candidates and which incumbent Republicans would be harmed. There were
also regional disputes about the placement of districts and the division
of counties.

Gov. Roy E. Barnes, a Democrat, had
threatened to send the General Assembly home and suspend the redistricting
effort until January if a plan was not passed by midnight Friday.

With a 99-to-59 vote in the House and
then a 30-to-23 vote in the Senate, the legislators made their deadline by
two hours. The governor is expected to sign the plan next week.

With Republicans holding a majority of
only 10 House seats in Washington, Democratic gains in states like Georgia
could have a significant effect on the party's chances to take control in
2002 after eight years in the minority. Redistricting is expected to help
Republicans in several other states, so the Democrats' ability to pick up
seats in Georgia and a few other states could be critical.

Touting a proposed set of political maps
that bind communities of interest, a local business group released the
city's first - but likely not last - local redistricting plan Friday based
on 2000 U.S. Census data.

The Citizens Committee for Progress will
present its redistricting maps next week to Augusta commissioners in hopes
of seeing the proposal passed and sent to the General Assembly for
approval.

''It is a start, and it is a beginning
for our community,'' said Don Grantham, a spokesman for the group.

Although the group is optimistic that
its lines are the most logical and equitable, they acknowledge that it is
unlikely it will be approved without amendment.

''What we are saying is we are not the
final author of a final map the commission will use,'' Mr. Grantham said.
''We know that there will be changes.''

The Citizens Committee for Progress - a
decade-old group made up of local business professionals - has spent the
past six months drafting a map of new Augusta Commission and Richmond
County Board of Education districts.

Census figures show that although
Augusta has not grown significantly during the past decade, there have
been some major population shifts, mostly people moving from the inner
city to outlying suburban areas in the south and west. The Citizens for
Progress maps reflect those shifts, with commission Districts 1 and 2
losing the most residents and Districts 8 and 3 gaining the most.

''We're looking at this more as an
economic and geographic map and not a political map,'' Mr. Grantham said.

Using a computer software program that
committee members declined to identify, they were able to determine how
2000 Census figures affected existing commission districts. Based on
population of voting-age residents, each commission district should have
18,271 people of voting age.

But four commission districts - 1, 2, 5
and Super District 9 - have deviated from that ideal number by more than
10 percent, largely because of population loss.

''Our population has moved around, and
that's what this map takes care of,'' said committee member Braye
Boardman.

When redrawing the lines to make
districts more equal in size, the group focused on creating what it is
calling ''communities of interest.'' Under the committee's proposed map,
District 1 would no longer stretch to Augusta Regional Airport, but
instead would be made more compact to encompass the downtown area.

District 2 would pick up the industrial
corridor that includes Sandbar Ferry Road, currently in District 1.
Districts 7 and 3 would share the northwest Augusta area - the fastest
growing part of the city.

Districts 6 and 8 were made smaller
because of substantial growth in the south Augusta area, but Districts 4
and 5 - which have a high concentration of manufacturing businesses -
increased in size because of population loss.

''It was drawn strictly by geographic
borders and numbers,'' Mr. Boardman said. All commissioners' seats would
be preserved under the proposed lines, with the exception of south Augusta
Commissioners Andy Cheek and Ulmer Bridges, who would swap districts.
Three school board members would be displaced by the proposed lines.

Although school board districts must be
drawn by the legislative delegation, Augusta commissioners have the
authority to draw their own lines. Once a map is approved locally, new
lines must be approved by the General Assembly and the U.S. Justice
Department.

A packet detailing the citizens
committee's proposal was delivered to the the Richmond County Board of
Elections office Friday.

For the first time, a computer program
will be loaded onto a city computer that allows local officials to
experiment with district lines and come up with their own map by clicking
a mouse.

The citizens committee's proposal likely
will be one of many proposals, once commissioners start getting involved,
said Lynn Bailey, the executive director of the local election board.

''I would imagine that this (map) would
perhaps get the ball rolling a bit,'' Ms. Bailey said.

Just hours before a midnight deadline,
the Georgia Legislature stopped bickering and finally approved a redrawn
congressional district map.

After an all-Democrat committee of
legislators agreed Friday afternoon on new political boundaries for
Georgia's 13 congressional districts, the state House and Senate adopted
them Friday night, ending the special legislative session.

In the process, they created a map of
winding shapes that placed far-flung Rome and Columbus together in a
single district, and Athens and Savannah in another.

The Legislature also likely increased
Democratic representation in Georgia's congressional delegation. The map
was redrawn to increase the number of Georgia Democrats in Congress from
three of 11 seats to seven of 13.

The House approved the map, 99-59, and
the Senate followed suit, 30-23. The new political configuration still
needs the signature of Gov. Roy Barnes and federal approval under the
Voting Rights Act. Barnes was in Gainesville on Friday and could not be
reached for comment.

State Republican Party Chairman Ralph
Reed said the GOP probably will file a federal lawsuit challenging the
makeup of the districts. "This map is very vulnerable to legal challenge,"
Reed said.

Republican U.S. Reps. Jack Kingston and
Saxby Chambliss may have been placed in the same South Georgia district.
And Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Barr's 7th District seat, now residing in a
new 11th District, is subject to a Democratic voter majority. Barr is
expected to challenge U.S. Rep. John Linder in a metro Atlanta seat. Other
Republican incumbents appeared to be unharmed by the boundary shifts.

Democratic U.S. Reps. John Lewis and
Cynthia McKinney retained the core of their districts in Fulton and DeKalb
counties. Lewis honored a promise to do what was necessary to bolster the
chances of Democrats in the state by agreeing to give up friendly areas of
south Fulton and pick up new voters as far north as Roswell. McKinney
surrendered the exclusive Druid Hills neighborhood and offered to keep
Republican precincts in Gwinnett County.

A new 13th District will be anchored by
Clayton County and cover portions of 10 other metro Atlanta counties,
including Gwinnett, Walton, Rockdale, Fulton, Butts and Spalding. Earlier
dubbed the "I-285 district" because some versions of it virtually circled
Atlanta, the district's lines were moved out of Cobb and Douglas counties.
Sen. David Scott (D-Atlanta) said it is as compact as it can be while
still meeting Democratic objectives.

South Georgia will have four
congressional districts, including a narrow territory spanning from
Savannah to Athens. Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor accomplished his goal of keeping
three districts in deep South Georgia.

A new Middle Georgia district will run
generally from Buena Vista to Reidsville to Sparta. It was one of two
major demands by Murphy, who said it was high time the state's central
region had its own member of Congress. Murphy's other principal concern
was to create a Democratic district for Barr, the conservative Republican
from Cobb County.

The special legislative session, which
began Aug. 22, focused mainly on congressional redistricting made
necessary by population shifts reflected in the 2000 census. Georgia's
congressional delegation is growing by two seats because of population
growth in the last decade.

Republicans, in the minority and shut
out of the decision-making, heaped criticism on the map and the process
used to devise it. Linda Hamrick, who coordinated the GOP redistricting
team, said the map is the product "of a group of Democratic candidates
drawing districts for themselves."

Some Democrats also grumbled about the
process, which at one point produced a stunning vote by the Senate to
disband while the House refused to shut down.

Amid the fear of defection from some of
their own members and harsh criticism from Republicans, Democrats left
nothing to chance in the hours preceding the House vote.

"It's much more intense than the flag
vote," said Rep. Tommy Smith (D-Alma), the chief House negotiator on
redistricting. "We're putting on a full-court press like I've not seen us
do on any piece of legislation in my memory."

Taylor, president of the Senate, said he
was pleased the Legislature agreed on a map so the state can move on.

"We got a vote that brings this special
session to an end and gets us focused on job creation, getting the economy
moving forward and dealing with some of our security issues here in
Georgia," Taylor said.

Georgia Democrats survived racial
fights, political bickering and regional conflicts to give final approval
yesterday to new congressional district lines that could give the party as
many as four new House seats in a crucial victory in the national
redistricting struggle.

The national redistricting -- which
really involves a collection of state-by-state battles, most involving
marginal shifts of one seat -- is roughly one third complete. For
Democrats, Georgia offered the best chance to make a substantial gain and,
until yesterday, the prospects for success had appeared slim as the state
legislature approached a deadline of last night.

"It matters not whether the road is
straight, but just that you get where you want to go," said John
Kirincich, executive director of the Georgia Democratic Party. Under the
plan approved by the legislature last night, the new lines could result in
one of "the single biggest pickups from redistricting that any party has
gotten," he said.

Ralph Reed, the Georgia Republican
chairman, acknowledged that the Democrats had produced a plan that on
paper looks like a major setback to the GOP, but, he argued, incumbent
Republican House members have shown an ability to win in
Democratic-leaning districts. "I've had members look me in the eye and
say, 'I will take the $750,000 to $850,000 I've raised, move to a district
across the state, and I'll win it,' " Reed said.

Because of population growth recorded in
the 2000 census, Georgia will pick up two new House seats. Currently, the
Georgia delegation has eight Republicans and three Democrats. Democrats
contend that the post-2002 delegation could be 7 to 6 Democratic.

They note that in the new configuration,
seven of the 13 districts have Democratic voting histories, or a
"performance" of 55 percent or more, leaving only six secure GOP seats.

The Georgia setup would balance the
solid Republican redistricting victory in Michigan, where a 9 to 7
Democratic majority delegation is likely to become a 9 to 6 GOP majority.
Michigan lost a seat because of its shrinking population.

California has already proven to be a
disappointment to many Democrats. Pressures to protect incumbents and
avoid a referendum challenge prompted Democrats in control of the process
to adopt a plan with only a one-seat Democratic pickup, frustrating those
who saw an opportunity to gain as many as four seats because of the
state's population growth.

With Republicans hoping to make gains of
two to three seats each in Pennsylvania, Ohio and perhaps Florida -- where
the GOP controls the legislature and the governorship -- Georgia has been
viewed by Democratic Party strategists as an essential linchpin to their
national plans.

Nationally, Republicans say they are
likely to pick up eight to 10 seats as a result of redistricting, while
Democrats contend that the outcome will be a wash. Democrats note that the
expected GOP gains in Ohio and Pennsylvania will be countered by a
collection of one-seat Democrat pickups in North Carolina, New Mexico and
Iowa, along with Republican losses in Oklahoma and Indiana.

Republicans bolster their prospective
numbers by arguing that Democrats are likely to suffer single-seat losses
in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin and, perhaps, Utah as the lines are
redrawn.

There are strong incentives for
Democrats and Republicans to exaggerate their prospects of redistricting
success: The party that is expected to control the House after the 2002
elections will have a much easier time recruiting strong candidates and
raising money.

One of the most striking trends has been
a reduction in the number of competitive seats. Mark Gersh, Washington
director of the National Committee for an Effective Congress, has
estimated that out of the 137 districts that have been redrawn, the number
of marginal seats has fallen from 23 to 15.

If this pattern continues for all 435
districts, there will be a number of significant consequences. The
national outcome of House elections will be less reflective of overall
political trends, and the "coattail" effects in presidential election
years will be weakened because fewer seats will change hands.

The state where there is a potential for
the largest partisan swing of seats is Texas, where legislators failed to
agree on a plan and the issue is before a Democratic state judge in
Austin.

Texas Democrats control the delegation
by a 17 to 13 ratio. They have proposed protecting all incumbents and
giving each party one of the two new districts that must be added because
of population growth -- one a Democratic Hispanic seat in South Texas and
the other a Republican seat north of Dallas.

The GOP, however, contends that the
state has moved dramatically toward the Republican Party and has proposed
plans that would add from four to eight Republican seats, while
eliminating a number of seats held by white Democrats.

The state court is expected to issue a
ruling early next week, which will then go before a federal court in East
Texas for review.

In Georgia, both local and national
Democrats had been worried that this year could turn into a repeat of the
post-1990 census redistricting, when state House Speaker Tom Murphy (D)
was determined to use redistricting to defeat then-Rep. Newt Gingrich
(R-Ga.). The Murphy plan not only failed to force Gingrich out of office,
but it set the stage for the 1994 elections, when the Democratic losses in
Georgia were among the most severe in the nation.

This year, Murphy sought to end the
House career of Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.), undermining, in the view
of Democratic strategists there, the larger goal of creating the maximum
possible number of Democratic-leaning districts. At one point, black
Democrats in the House voted against the 2001 Murphy plan.

The plan approved by the legislature,
according to Democrats, puts Republican Reps. John Linder and Jack
Kingston most at risk, while Barr and Rep. C. Saxby Chambliss, another
Republican viewed by Democrats as a threat in a Democratic district, are
both likely to choose to run in Republican-leaning districts.

Georgia lawmakers approved a
redistricting plan Friday designed to give Democrats a majority of the
state's congressional delegation for the first time since 1994.

The plan would create seven districts
with a majority of Democratic voters and six with a majority of Republican
voters.

Republicans currently hold eight of 11
congressional seats; the state gained two seats because of population
increases.

The new map still requires the signature
of Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes and faces potential lawsuits from
Republicans.

Democrats, including Barnes, went into
the session intent on reversing GOP gains during the last decade. The two
new districts were drawn for Democrats, and others were changed to make it
difficult for incumbent Republicans.

Republicans fought the new districts,
arguing they may be struck down by the courts because they dilute minority
voting strength.

But black Democrats, who broke with
their party during redistricting after the 1990 census, refused to join
Republicans this time.

Democrats have long acknowledged that
the map was drawn for partisan reasons. Still, Republican leaders said
their candidates may be able to win some of the districts drawn for
Democrats.

"We're not going to be intimidated by
people who want to stack the deck to try to gives us odds we can't beat,"
said Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland.

"The Georgia Democratic party is
stealing the election for the next 10 years, or trying to," he said.

Chattanooga Times FreePressRemap Plan Still in WorksBy Michael Finn
September 28, 2001

The shape of proposed congressional
districts in Northwest Georgia and metro Atlanta was keeping House and
Senate negotiators from agreeing on a redistricting plan for Georgia's 13
U.S. House districts late Thursday.

"The thing that's holding us up now is
the configuration of the 7th (Northwest) and 13th (metro) districts," said
House Reapportionment Committee Chairman Tommy Smith, D-Alma.

The House and Senate are to meet in
session today for the first time in a week, and leaders in both chambers
have said if a plan is not adopted, they will end the session.

The composition of Northwest Georgia
varied greatly in the House and Senate proposals. The House map had
Chattooga, Floyd and parts Walker, Gordon and Bartow counties in the 7th
District, with the remainder of the region, except for a portion of
Bartow, in the 10th District.

The Senate map had Chattooga, Floyd and
parts of Whitfield, Gordon and Bartow counties in the 7th District. Fannin
and Gilmer counties were in the 10th District with much of Northeast
Georgia. The Senate's 11th District included Dade, Walker, Catoosa, Murray
and parts of Whitfield and Gordon counties. The remainder of Bartow was in
the 9th District.

Rep. Mike Snow, D-Chickamauga, said the
conference committee may not agree on a plan. "I'll be surprised if we
even have a vote (of the full General Assembly)," he said.

"I think it's still going to be tough to
get the (91) votes in the House, but I would vote for the Senate map,"
Rep. Snow said. "It would keep Nathan Deal as our congressman, and I don't
have a problem with that."

Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, said
today's return to session of the Senate could be for naught. He said it's
possible that the Senate Democrats might not be able to get 29 of their 32
members to vote for any congressional reapportionment plan. Thus far, all
24 Senate Republicans have opposed each state and federal reapportionment
plan that has been presented.

"We've spent way over $1 million trying
to pass a congressional plan so far," Sen. Mullis said. "If partisan
politics had been left out, we could have been through with this process
long ago."

Some lawmakers, frustrated with failed
attempts to approve a new congressional map, said Saturday that
legislators need a break from the job and perhaps it should be handed over
to the courts.

''At this point, I'd like to see the
courts draw up the plan, since it seems we can't agree. There are just too
many chiefs trying to draw the lines,'' said Rep. George DeLoach,
R-Hephzibah.

Lawmakers, legislative staffers and
other longtime observers at the Capitol were stunned Friday night when the
Senate abruptly voted unilaterally to adjourn a congressional
redistricting session that had dragged on for nearly a month.

A few minutes later, a defiant House
voted to come back Wednesday to take another stab at drawing a new
congressional map for Georgia.

Though House and Senate members blame
each other and both groups blame Gov. Roy Barnes for interfering with the
resolution process, some say Democrats failed to unite their majority
behind a common plan.

But Rep. Ben Allen, D-Augusta, who is
making plans to run for a proposed Augusta-based congressional seat, said
the spat is simply Democrats being Democrats. '

'It just shows we're a party of a number
of factions,'' he said. ''That's always been a strong point for our
party.''

The General Assembly redraws
congressional districts every 10 years to reflect census population
patterns. The Senate and the House previously approved separate versions
of a new map, but have yet to approve a compromise version both factions
can live with.

If the Legislature does not reconvene or
does not address the map in January, federal judges would draw the map.

Rep. Alberta Anderson, D-Waynesboro,
said she left Friday's session around 5 p.m. after getting a sense that
the day would not be fruitful.

''It's just ridiculous,'' Mrs. Anderson
said. ''I wish the courts would just go ahead and decide on this. My
constituents need me more at home than up there (in Atlanta).

''I have neighbors who are on fixed
incomes; children who are hungry in my community, and we're worried about
a map? Come on!''

Sen. Don Cheeks said he didn't get home
until after 1 a.m. Saturday.

Mr. Cheeks, who represents District 23,
said the legislators need a break from the process.

''If you've had two weeks and several
recesses to get the job done, maybe a month or two will let cooler heads
prevail.''

Worn down by nearly two weeks of
gridlock and distracted by concerns over the nation's prelude to war, the
state Senate gave up on drawing a new congressional map late Friday and
went home.

The move effectively ended the General
Assembly's redistricting session, although the House voted shortly after
11 p.m. to return next Wednesday, leaving the fate of the process in
confusion.

With harsh words for colleagues in their
own party, Democrats disagreed over how close they were to agreeing on a
plan.

The Legislature is now faced with either
reconvening in another special session or taking up the map again when
their regular session convenes in January. If they do neither, federal
judges would draw the map.

The General Assembly redraws
congressional district lines every 10 years, reflecting shifting
population patterns that turn up in the census. Georgia has had 11
congressional districts for the past decade, but the number will increase
to 13 starting with the 2002 elections because of the state's rapid growth
during the 1990s.

The Senate and the House had approved
different versions of a new map. A conference committee, made up of three
senators and three House members, had been meeting since early last week
to combine the two. But in the final hours, several sticking points
remained.

Among them were whether Athens should be
placed in a strong Democratic district stretching to Augusta and Savannah
or anchor a more conservative northeast Georgia district.

Several lawmakers said Gov. Roy Barnes
was unhappy with a plan that would split Cobb County, his home, into four
different districts. And House Speaker Tom Murphy's insistence on drawing
a northwest Georgia district that would hurt incumbent Republican U.S.
Rep. Bob Barr siphoned off votes from supporters of Rep. Sanford Bishop, a
Democrat whose southwest Georgia district would have become more
Republican as a result.

Democratic leaders, who had guided the
mostly closed-door process, turned their blame on one another as it became
clear no consensus would be reached.

Mr. Taylor blamed ''people of my own
party, people in the House, people in the executive branch,'' - the last
an apparent reference to Mr. Barnes.

Mr. Murphy's comments aimed toward the
governor, who left the Capitol at about 9:30 p.m. to attend to business
elsewhere, were more pointed.

''It's a shame and disgrace that some
people have mettled in the business of the General Assembly way beyond
what's ever been done in my 41 years in this body,'' Mr. Murphy said. ''I
think it was wrong, and I think there will be repercussions from it.''

On Friday afternoon, the governor sent a
letter to both Mr. Taylor and Mr. Murphy saying the session had lasted too
long and calling on them to vote on a map by midnight or adjourn.

''As the events of the past week and a
half have made abundantly clear, we have far more important problems to
deal with,'' Mr. Barnes wrote.

But critics said the letter appeared to
be an attempt to shake off the blame after a session in which many say Mr.
Barnes was actively involved in drawing maps that maximized Democratic
gains.

''That's as hypocritical as they come,''
said Senate Republican Leader Eric Johnson of Savannah. ''The governor's
fingerprints were all over the political tone of this session.''

While Democrats hold majorities in both
chambers of the Legislature, the Republican minority in both was much
larger than during redistricting sessions in 1981 and 1991. As a result,
Democrats were forced to try to draw maps that didn't alienate significant
pockets of their own party.

For example, there are 32 Democrats in
the Senate, where 29 votes are needed for a majority.

''We were each other's opposition,''
said Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta. ''Regionalism, some race and
personalities - it was all those things and more.''

For the second consecutive day since
returning to the Capitol from a weeklong recess, rank-and-file lawmakers
cooled their heels for much of Friday, anxious for progress among their
conferees.

Republicans had been more willing than
Democrats to give up, go home and let federal judges draw the
congressional map instead, as they did in the mid-1990s when the General
Assembly failed to agree on a plan.

Presumably, any map drawn by judges
would be less politically damaging to GOP members of Congress than a plan
put together by Democrats, who control both legislative chambers.

''Our country is at war ... and we're in
here arguing over half a point of Democratic performance on a map or what
specific candidate is going to run in what district,'' said House
Republican leader Lynn Westmoreland of Sharpsburg. ''I think we ought to
be ashamed.''

Mr. Taylor acknowledged that last
Tuesday's terrorist attacks and the ensuing preparations for war made the
hardball politics of redistricting hard to stomach for many
lawmakers.''Every member of the Senate, and every member of the House I've
talked to ... has been traumatized,'' he said. ''It is a very difficult
environment to work in.''

An apparent deal between the state House
and Senate over congressional redistricting dissolved late Thursday night
following 15 hours of sporadic negotiations.

State senators stormed out of the
meeting room at 11:15 p.m., claiming the House was not negotiating in good
faith.

"I don't know whether we're playing
hide-the-ball, racquetball, or kickball, or whatever," said Sen. Robert
Brown (D-Macon). "Where is the agreement?"

The disagreement threatened hopes for
ending the special session, which cannot come quickly enough for some
members, who left their jobs and families to draw new districts for the
state House and Senate.

Lawmakers took a few days off after that
process and returned Aug. 22 to discover that Gov. Roy Barnes had sent
those maps back for more work. Lawmakers also faced a host of other thorny
issues, including a ban on video poker, that Barnes included in the call
for the second session.

Working late into Thursday evening, the
joint House-Senate committee appeared to have settled on a congressional
plan. It would create six districts favorable to Democrats, six tilted to
Republicans and one a tossup. It includes an oddly shaped 13th District
that runs around the outside of I-285 and juts into 11 counties.

Republicans were not happy that
Democrats seemed to draw lines to help various Democrats win a
congressional election. "These districts need to be won on issues and not
predetermined candidates," said House Minority Leader Lynn Westmoreland
(R-Sharpsburg).

The potential compromise appeared to
satisfy key concerns of House Speaker Tom Murphy and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor,
who is president of the Senate. The differences appeared so great at some
points that conferees seemed deadlocked, raising the specter of having
federal judges draw a congressional map, as happened in 1995.

Seemingly, Murphy had won the creation
of a new district in Middle Georgia and held fast to his demand to draw
U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) out of his district, which starts in Cobb
County and covers northwest Georgia along the Alabama border.

Taylor, of Albany, seemed to have
prevailed in his effort to keep three congressional districts in South
Georgia. Taylor also pressed hard to create as many Democratic districts
as possible, a move that at some points threatened Murphy's demand for a
Middle Georgia seat.

The Legislatureís
special redistricting session already has cost Georgia taxpayers $1
million, and it isnít over yet.

State lawmakers left the
Capitol on Friday with no agreement in sight on new congressional
districts. As the process drags into its eighth week, some Republicans
again are complaining the Democrats are wasting taxpayer money.

ìItís just a big game
played at the expense of the people,î said Linda Hamrick, redistricting
director for the state Republican Party.

Legislators must meet
after every census and redraw legislative and congressional districts to
make sure they all have about the same number of people. The process is
inherently partisan because lawmakers want to draw districts that will
best help their party win elections.

Lawmakers are paid an
allowance for each day theyíre required to be in Atlanta, but they donít
get any money added to their $16,200 annual salary. The daily allowance is
$128 for food and lodging, plus the lawmakers get reimbursed 28 cents a
mile for one round-trip visit home every week.

Both houses of the
Legislature have met 23 days this summer, at a cost of about $40,000 to
$45,000 a day, according to the Legislative Fiscal Office. The only days
counted are when the full House or Senate convenes, not when committees
meet. Legislators are not paid for days they donít meet or if theyíre
counted absent.

Republicans are angry
because the redistricting sessions this summer have lasted longer than
similar sessions in the past. Ten years ago, the session lasted from Aug.
19 to Sept. 5. Redistricting took slightly longer in 1981, but still was
shorter than this yearís promises to be.

ìThereís a group of
legislators who just like being in Atlanta,î said Senate Republican Leader
Eric Johnson, who spent Friday in his Savannah office. ìThey like the per
diem. They like being in session. Thatís their life. This should not have
taken nearly as long as it has.î

Democrats countered that
redistricting takes time because itís so important. As a committee met
last week to iron out House and Senate differences in congressional maps,
Democratic negotiators said they kept in mind how tenuous the party
balance is.

ìWhat we are doing could
affect the leadership in the nation. We canít willy-nilly draw these
districts,î said Senate Democratic Leader Charles Walker.

The six negotiators also
have to tread cautiously because if both houses donít approve their
comprise, the maps will be drawn by the courts, not legislators.

ìThe No. 1 thing is
youíve got to pass this in each body,î said Democratic Rep. Bob Hanner, a
conference committee negotiator. ìAnd it was so close last time, we donít
have any votes to lose. Thatís why it takes a long time. Weíd rather draw
it than have the courts do it for us.î

Committee members
planned to resume talks Tuesday and hoped to have a compromise ready
Thursday, when lawmakers return for the 24th day of redistricting session.
Johnson said legislators may decide to go home next week ìwith or without
a map.î

ìThis is growing
frustration this thing has taken so long,î he said. ìThere are people
saying, ëMy business is suffering. My wife is upset. I havenít seen my kid
play soccer in six weeks. Letís give it up and go home.îí

The Legislatureís effort to draw new
congressional districts for Georgia has come down to six men working to
find a compromise between separate maps drawn by the House and Senate.

As usual, all six of the negotiators are
Democrats. Whatís different this time is that half of them are black. One
of them is Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus, a lawmaker since 1975 and now
the highest-ranking black in the House.

ìI think itís a sign of the times,î said
Smyre, who chairs both the Rules Committee, which determines whether
legislation reach the House floor for a vote, and the House Democratic
Caucus. ìI think it shows that opportunity exists and that weíre mostly at
the table now, not looking at it through a knothole outside.î

Another negotiator is Sen. Charles
Walker of Augusta, Senate Democratic leader and the highest ranking black
in that chamber.

ìI think itís very significant. Itís
never happened before. But I donít think it should be overplayed,î Walker
said.

ìThe fact of the matter is, the people
on this conference committee are there because of their positions. Once
you get in a position [of power] then certain things will happen
automatically.î

The other black negotiator is Sen.
Robert Brown of Macon, vice chairman of the Senate redistricting
committee.

University of Georgia political science
professor Charles Bullock said the extraordinary influence that black
lawmakers wield on the negotiating committee points to their increasing
clout in the General Assembly.

Republican gains in the 1990s whittled
the Democratic majority in both chambers. The math is such that when black
and white Democrats split, their majority evaporates.

Presumably, black negotiators at the
conference table will help ensure that the final map is one which black
Democrats can support.

But at least one black Atlanta senator
says heíll never vote for any plan drawn by the current conference
committee. Sen. David Scottís argument has nothing to do with how many
black lawmakers are at the negotiating table, but rather how many metro
Atlanta lawmakers are there.

The answer: none. All the negotiators
are from central and south Georgia.

ìItís time people in Atlanta stopped
taking this,î said Scott, a Democrat from Atlanta.

Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, who is
black, also has complained of metro Atlantaís lack of influence at the
table.

Senate negotiators contend the Atlantans
will be happy with the final plan, but if four Democrats vote against the
plan, negotiators will have to go back to the drawing board. Democrats can
lose three votes and wield a majority in the Senate, but not four.

Whatever the final version of the plan,
some think there may be a legal advantage to having a strong
representation of blacks on the conference committee. They think the
Justice Department may take note of that when it reviews Georgiaís plan to
ensure the proposal does not dilute black voting strength.

ìIn the past, part of the objection has
been that it looked like plans were not devised in an environment in which
minorities could have input,î said Bullock. ìHere, youíve got some very
visible and widely recognized leaders there at the table.î